Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova

59 reviews

emilywemily6's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Oooo this was good. My horror at Magos’ attempt to grow a piece of her dead son’s lung cannot be matched. The beginning of this book was so unhinged and I was yelling at the cast to get rid of Monstrilio before he ate them all. And yet I grew to love that little monster and found him cute with his arm tail. And I was horrified at myself for thinking he was cute!! This novel explores what it means to be human and what it means to be a monster and made me want to reread Frankenstein. I really felt for M and how he tried so hard to fit in and appear less monstrous. I appreciated that this bunch of misfit/unhinged family members tried to protect M even after some of the things he did. There were strong themes about trying to change others/trying to alter what we created when it doesn’t suit us (again, it makes me want to reread Frankenstein!). The horror of this story was really in M’s origin and the story became more meaningful towards the end. Honestly, I was hoping for more horror and for there to be a tipping point at the end, but as another reviewer wrote there was an emotionlessness to the gore/sex that made it less horror-ish than it could have been. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Child death, Medical content, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Death, Grief, Sexual violence, Animal death, Blood, Drug use, Gore, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Bullying and Alcohol

athompson0429's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Violence and Gore

pipettesandpages's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Gore

mitobites's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Death, Child death, Grief, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Violence, and Body horror

Minor: Child abuse, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Alcohol, Confinement, and Physical abuse

lindsaysymes's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I love this book. The characters are all so well written and thought out. The story of lives lived and working through grief is beautiful, and funny, and thoughtful. It’s also about acceptance and family and figuring out who you are.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, and Body horror

Moderate: Violence

isabelromero's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Impeccable. One of the best pieces of fiction I’ve read; so original, so human, so creative, so dark, so funny, so captivating. If this is what you write for a debut, can’t wait to see what Córdova does next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Murder, and Blood

rorikae's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

'Monstrilio' by Gerald Sámono Córdova is a magical realism mediation on grief. 
The story switches between perspectives surrounding a family who has lost their son, Santiago. Beginning with a section from Magos, Santiago's mother, the novel follows how Magos takes a piece of Santiago's lung and what it becomes. This small piece of her son begins to grow, transforming into a creature that the family calls Monstrilio or M. Through following sections from a family friend (Lena) and from Joeseph (Santiago's father), Monstrilio's growth and his effect on the family is explored.
Gerardo Sámano Córdova weaves a deeply emotional story about the loss of a child and the effect on the child's parents. His writing is beautiful and evocative. Grief can consume, bring about violence, obsession, and more, which Gerardo Sámano Córdova deftly explores through the character of Monstrilio. All of the characters in this story are deeply flawed and extremely human. Their mistakes are easy to understand in light of their grief. I also appreciated the casual queerness of the characters and the story as a whole. I cannot wait to see what Gerardo Sámano Córdova writes next as this is a profoundly moving story that uses a fantastical aspect to explore the longstanding effects of grief. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, and Blood

Moderate: Child death

thegayestghost's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Violence, Gore, Blood, Animal death, Death, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

booksthoughtsandtea's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Violence, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Death, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Animal death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Confinement

The middle part drags a little. Once you are in the last quarter of the book, you will understand the purpose of it. Get tissues ready.

another_dahlia's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Grief, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror and Sexual assault